Hair cutters

ABSTRACT

Improved hair cutter devices adapted primarily for home use which effectively utilize a double-edged blade that is readily adjustable between two sets of tines so as to present a cutting edge with respect to first one set of tines, and then upon adjustment, to the second set of tines. Improved dimensioning of the hair cutters and associated improved adjustment means are provided to enable the quick and precise adjustment of the blade to traverse the cutting device to various cutting positions at each of the two tine stations. The shape of the tines has been improved to effectively increase the cutting operation by camming the hair during the cutting operation in avoidance of a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;chop hair cut&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; in which unevenness would otherwise prevail.

United States Patent Spanel Dec. 24, 1974 HAIR CUTTERS [76] Inventor: Abram Nathaniel Spanel, 344 Primary Exam 1er Al Lawrence. Smlth Stockton St., Princeton, NJ. 08540 Assistant Exammer Gary Smth Attorney, Agent, or Fzrm-Steele & Petock [22] Filed: Jan. 5, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 321,343 [57] ABSTRACT Improved hair cutter devices adapted primarily for 1 home use which effectively utilize a double-edged [52] U.S. Cl. 30/30, 30/54 blade that is readily adjustable between two Sets of ti so as t p t a tti g dg p t t [58] F'eld Search 30/30 first one set of tines, and then upon adjustment, to the 30/320 54; 132/139 160 second set of tines. Improved dimensioning of the hair cutters and associated improved adjustment means are [56] References cued provided to enable the quick and precise adjustment UNITED STATES PATENTS of the blade to traverse the cutting device to various 1,175,023 3/1916 Szabo 30 30 cutting positions at a f the two tine s a ns- The 2,569,344 9/1951 Shaeffer. 30/30 shape of the tines has been improved to effectively in- 2, 9 55 one 0/ crease the cutting operation by camming the hair dur- Spanel the cutting peration in avoidance of a hop hair FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS cut in which unevenness would otherwise prevail. 40,990 6/1937 Netherlands 30/30 16 Claims, 23 Drawing Figures PATENTEDUEE24|974 3855395 saw 1 05 g HAIR CU'ITERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to hair cutters primarily for home cutting which may be safely used by men and women and also for children, for extensive hair cutting or for quick trimming purposes. These cutters are particularly important in this age of inflation since they provide relatively inexpensive means for said hair cutting or quick trimming.

2. Prior Art The embodiments of the subject invention offer improvements and modifications over existing home hair cutters which utilize single or double-edged blades which are adjustable to various cutting positions. The embodiments of the subject invention are improvements over the hair cutters of my US. Pat. Nos. 2,731,717, 2,711,014, 2,746,144 and 2,856,683.

The hair cutting device as disclosed in my aforementioned US. Pat. No. 2,731,717 has aligned projecting tines which, while protecting the skin from cutting, provide a means to expose cutting edges to the hair and simultaneously to avoid the collection of cut hair within the device. A double-edged blade is supported and is adjustable between two sets of tines and can be transversely adjusted to various cutting positions within each of the tine areas. The blade is held in parallel relation to, and bisects, the bights of the aligned tines when in cutting position and is conveniently adjusted by means of a rack and pinion controllable by a knob placed along the handle for the convenience of the operator.

Although in my aforementioned patents, I have disclosed hair cutters characterized by two sets of aligned tines in which a double-edged blade is disposed to permit the adjustment of its cutting edges in first one set of tines and then in the second set of tines, nevertheless, the subject invention is a desirable improvement in increasing utility with safety to the user for hair cutting devices.

Experience with all types of razor blade hair cutting devices shows a fault that is common to most of them, mainly, the inevitability of making an unsightly chop" cut which some disgruntled users have called scalping.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the subject invention to provide a hair cutting device in which the utility is improved over past models by providing an increase in span length from extremity to extremity of the two sets of projecting tines and providing therewith the combination of improved blade adjusting means and tines of improved configurations which are relatively graduated or shaped to avoid a crude-appearing chop cut.

It is another object of the subject invention to provide a hair cutting device in which one or more blade stops are used to effectively prevent the impact of the edges of a double-edged blade against each set of tines and the subsequent nicking and dulling of the blade as a result thereof.

It is a further object of the subject invention to provide a hair cutting device in which the shape of the tines has been modified to increase carnming action of the hair to a cutting position which provides a hair cutting device that is superior to previous structures.

It is still a further object of the subject invention to provide a hair cutting device in which the shape of the tines has a configuration to be compatible with respect to the angle of application by the user to provide ahair cutter having optimum cutting ability.

In accordance with the above objects, there is provided a hair cutting device of somewhat greater size than the earlier models as disclosed in the aforementioned Spanel patents. In particular the cage, made up of tines, is wider. To permit the effective increase in the lengths of the tines, there are provided several types of improved adjusting means by which the blade can readily be adjusted to the various cutting positions. In the earlier disclosed Spanel patents, the devices are designed so that the blade and rack length are approximately one-half of the total distance from the extremities or bights of one set of tines to the other set. Thus, the throw of the rack by the adjusting knob permits the blade to be adjusted within the two sets of tines to the extreme outward position in each set without the rack protruding from the housing adjacent the cutting regions since such protrusions would in part defeat the purposes of the enclosing cage. It has been discovered that increasing the width of each set of tines approximately one-fourth inch provides better cutting configurations particularly when used on long hair but in adding this additional length, it becomes impossible to use the mechanism of the old device without the rack protruding from the housing if a blade of approximately the same size is used.

In a first embodiment a scotch yoke type of lever means is used whereby adjusting the knob which is centrally located at the handle of the device will cause a crank arm to engage a lever which in turn is attached to the blade table or carrier. As the knob is turned, the crank will cause the lever to swing about an are which is translated into rectilinear motion since the blade table engages a straight track, thus allowing the adjustment of the blade from one extreme side or set of tines to the other side of the device or second set of tines.

A second embodiment discloses the use of a threegear arrangement to accomplish the objectives as described with respect to the scotch yoke embodiment. In this case, the knob is connected to a driving gear which in turn meshes with two driven gears on either side of the drive gear both of which in turn mesh with the rack which is connected to the blade table. The blade table may be adjusted from its one extreme position to the second extreme position with one of the driven gears meshing with the rack at all times.

In another embodiment a curvilinear pivotal interior rack is used which meshes with a centrally located pinion gear to provide an extended range of motion to the blade carriage while the mechanism itself is compact and designed to be fitted within appropriate contours of the cutter device.

Not only has the increase of tine width been found to be a means of improving the performance of the cutter but also additional improvement is achieved when the tines are formed into various shapes as illustrated in the drawings whereby the hair may be more effectively cammed to produce not only better cutting ability but also what approximates a tapered look in avoidance of a chop type of hair cut whereby unsightly ridges are present.

In this respect, the tines may be slanted at an angle to better cam the hair or they may be constructed in such a manner that approximately one-eighth inch of the extreme tine portion is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the device, while the remainder of each tine is slanted to promote hair camming. The 4; inch perpendicular extremity provides for better control of the device particularly in regions of the hair where a hair part is formed.

Serpentine shaped tines may also be used effectively to cam the hair and may be used totally for each tine or in part with a portion remaining perpendicular to the device as described in the previous embodiments. Camming action may also be increased by twisting small nubs or dull barbs into portions of the tines.

In addition to the various shapes of the tines, a further improvement has been made over the tine construction of the original hair cutters. Where as previously, only one side of the cutter could be used successfully for stroking the hair, in the improved structure of the subject invention both the front and opposite back sides of the cutter may be effectively used. This is a result of adding bends near the tine extremities so that the tines extend inwardly generally toward each other to provide clearance paths for hair being stroked and cut regardless of the side of the frame facing the scalp.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of a hair cutter in which a lever-crank arm mechanism is used for adjusting the blade; I

FIG. 2 is a side elevation, partially in section, of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section along line 3-3 of the hair cutter of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 showing the blade in cutting position with respect to one set of tines;

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view similar to FIG. 4 only showing the blade in cutting position with respect to the second set of tines;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the hair cutter in which the blade adjusting mechanism comprises a three-gear arrangement with two of the gears being engagable with a rack and driven by a driving gear;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view, partially in section, of the embodiment of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross-section along line 8-8 of the hair cutter of the embodiment of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a partial plan view of the hair cutter of FIG. 6 showing the blade in cutting position with respect to one set of tines;

FIG. 10 is similar to FIG. 9 except the blade is shown in cutting position with respect to the other set of tines;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along lines 11--11 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of another embodiment of the FIG. 15 is a partial plan view of the hair cutter of FIG. 12 showing the blade in cutting position with respect to oe set of tines;

FIG. 16 is similar to FIG. 15 except the blade is shown in cutting position with respect to the other set of tines;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged partial plan view in which serpentine tines are substituted for the tines of the earlier figures;

FIG. 18 is a side elevational view of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 shows variations of serpentine tines;

FIG. 20 is an enlarged partial plan view showing tines which have nubs or dull barbs twisted into them;

FIG. 21 is a side elevational view of the cutter of FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 shows variations of the twisted barb tines; and

FIG. 23 shows variations of graduated serpentine tines as differentiated from the serpentine tines in FIG. 17.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the succeeding paragraphs, detailed descriptions will be offered for the figures. The mechanisms as shown in FIGS. 1-16 illustrate a variety of alternative means for advancing the blade and blade carriage to cutting positions first with respect to the first set of tines and then with respect to the second set of tines. The width of the tines and the distance of the span between the bights of the two sets of tines has been increased without increasing the blade width thus necessitating improved mechanical arrangements for advancing the blade so that it may extend to the outermost cutting positions without the rack protruding from the housing adjacent the cutting regions.

Specifically, with respect to FIGS. 1-5, a lever-crank arm mechanism is shown whereby a control knob 34 is turned to rotate a crank arm 38 which, in turn, is engageable with a pivoted lever 42 anchored at one end to an extension of the blade carriage which is slidable from tine extremity to the other tine extremity.

More particularly, the hair cutter 10 of FIG. 1 comprises a handle 12 and a cage portion 14. Within the cage portion, a blade carriage 16 is positioned with its end extremities extending into carriage guide ways 18 and 20. A double-edged type blade 22 is mounted upon the blade carriage 16 by means of a spring clamping plate 24 which engages slotted mounting posts 26 by means of key slots 28 of the clamping plate. The blade 22 is enclosed within the cage 14 by means of hair dividing elements or tines 30.

The blade adjusting mechanism is located in the enlarged portion 32 of handle 12. Extending above the handle enlarged portion 32 is a thumb-wheel or control knob 34 which may easily be operated by the thumb. The knob 34 is rigidly secured by means of a stud 36 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) to a crank arm 38. At its extremity the crank arm 38 has a rigidly attached stud pin 40 which engages lever arm 42 within slot 44. The lever arm 42 is pivotally mounted on a stud pin 46 and secured to the neck portion of handle 12.

The opposite end of the lever arm 42, from the pivot pin 46, engages the carriage slide 48 which is part of the blade carriage structure 16, by means of a carriage pin 50 centrally and rigidly mounted on the carriage slide 48. The lever arm 42 has a carriage slot 52 which engages the carriage pin 50 and is of sufficient length to permit the lever arm 42 to swing an arc around pivot point 46 thus permitting the carriage slide to be adjusted along the range of positions between the limiting positions respectively shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

The driving arrangement just described makes possible the use of a carriage slide 48 which in the region of the connecting pin 50 need only be of size to support that pin. It is shown of width which in its limiting position will not project beyond the apexes or bights of the tines 30. As the lever or link 42 is moved from the limiting positions of FIG. 4 to the limiting position of FIG. 5, the driving connection of pin 50 moves from one side of the longitudinal axis of symmetry, across that axis to a position on the other side of that axis. Thus there are attained advantages over a rack and pinion arrangement which for a given length of rack inherently limits the throw or movement of the rack.

The carriage slide 48 which is slidable across the width of the hair cutter has down-turned end or lip 54 which is slidable in a transverse recess 56 of the enlarged handle portion 32.

As best seen in FIG. 2, the underside of control knob 34 has indexing teeth 60 between which extends the V- shaped end of a spring member 58 which is itself secured to the handle portion 32. As shown, the spring 58 extends into the handle enlarged portion 32 through a slit 6] and has a locking arm 62 secured to the inner surface of handle portion 32.

The tines 30, it will be noted, have small portions whose lengths may be on the order of an eighth of an inch, designated as 64, which at the bight of each tine is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the blade. The remainder of each of the tines is slanted and is designated by 65. The slanted tine portions 65 give very definite advantages in camming each subdivided portion of the hair in such a manner as to prevent a chop or ridged type of hair cut which will result unless the hair is moved sideways to produce a tapered cut as opposed to being cut with the individual hairs lying side by side in a normal combed position. The straight portion 64 of the tines provides for better control in regions of the hair where a hair part is formed and assists in stroking the subdivided hair.

As best seen in FIG. 2, the hair cutter bottom handle portion formed by the base plate 66 extends to the farthest cage extremity and is there formed into a carriage guideway 18. The respective sets of tines are mounted to a cage base plate 66 on their one side and as shown in FIG. 3, a single piece of wire may be used for each complete tine, half being used for the angulated tine of the one set and half being used for the angulated tine of the other set.

Though angulated tines are shown in my prior patents, they limited and restricted the best use of the hair cutter to the side where the tines are secured as at 68 to the base plate 66. When this side of the cutter is moved through hair, the hair moves freely through the space between the tines and into engagement with the cutting edge of the blade 22. When the opposite side of the hair cutter is disposed toward the scalp and the tines terminate as in the region of the bend 70 of FIG. 3, the clamping member at the ends interfered with the cutting of the hair. I have found that by widening the cage, each free end-portion may be inwardly bent as at 70 to extend a substantial distance toward the plane in which the cutting blade is moved in selection of the desired cutting position. By then securing the ends of the tines together as by a rod of metal or plastic or as by a thin-metal, U-shaped, clamping element 72 which is crimped over the tines 30 to lock them in position, a relatively unobstructed path is provided for receiving the hair as the cutting device is moved along the desired hair cutting areas. It is understood that the tines can be made longer than illustrated thus to position the clamping element 72 even farther away from the bend 70. As shown, the position of the clamping element 72 provides for clearance for movement thereby of the blade clamping posts 26 when the blade is to be positioned near a selected row of apexes of the tines. The distance between the clamping elements 72 provides adequate room to remove and insert replacement plates though this distance may be shortened. The termination points generally illustrated in FIG. 3 are such that blade relacement is facilitated with minimum handling thereof. This is a desirable safety feature. By reason of these structural changes, the hair cutter as illustrated in FIG. 3 and other embodiments later to be described can be used with either angulated side facing the scalp materially to increase the utility of the device as a whole. Were the arrowhead shape of the angulated tines symmetrical, i.e., with the bend directly opposite the corresponding bend on the opposite side of the cutter, both sides would be of equal utility. By having the unsymmetrical arrowhead shapes in the doubleedged hair cutter, the user has the advantage of knowing that when the cutting edge is disposed near the bend 70, reproducible cutting actions will be achieved and thus serves as a good reference point for the trimming of hair as best serves the objectives of the user.

The blade clamping plate 24 has an upturned end 74 to allow the clamp to be slid to disengage the slots from the slotted posts 26 to allow the easy removal of the clamping plate and then the blade. Also, it will be noted that the plates 72 are located inwardly of bends 70 so as to not interfere with the combing action of the tines. In fact the combing action is facilitated. Thus, either side of the cage 14 may face the scalp for right or left hand gripping of handle 12, a marked improvement.

It will be noted that the tines 76 which are closest to carriage guideway 18 and the tines 68 which are closest to carriage guideway 20 are slightly shorter than the remaining tines. These shorter end-tines act as a stopping means or blade-stop to prevent the blade from striking any of the other tines as it is advanced to its furthermost cutting positions, thus serving to prevent nicking and dulling of most of the blade edge which would occur should the blade edge strike against the other tines. It is emphasized that all the bights may be aligned and the nicking of an edge of the blade 22 prevented by the side of the link or lever 42 engaging the inclined wall (serving as a stop) of the enlarged portion 32 of the handle 12.

With respect to FIGS. 6-11, an alternate embodiment of the hair cutter of FIG. l is shown. In this embodiment and in subsequent embodiments, like reference characters will in general be used to identify like parts. The primary differences in this embodiment from that of FIG. 1 are that a different type of blade adjusting mechanism is used and slanted tines 114 that are totally slanted are employed. The mechanism broadly comprises a three-gear arrangement, two of the gears being driven by the third with the two gears being engageable at spaced positions with a rack gear 108 which is part of the carriage 110.

With respect to FIG. 6, the driving gear is 100 and is engageable with the driven gears 102 and 104. It will be noted from FIG. 7 that the driving gear 100 is turned directly by means of knob or thumb-wheel 34. The driven gears 102 and 104 engage a rack 108 which is a part of the carriage 110.

As can be seen from FIG. 9, as the knob is rotated counterclockwise, driving gear 100 also rotates counterclockwise causing driven gears 102 and 104 to be driven in a clockwise direction which shifts the carriage, blade and rack gear to the position shown in FIG. 9 where the blade 22 abuts tines 112 which are shortened as are the end tines of FIG. 1. It will be noted that the rack 108 is approximately the width of the blade carriage and when the blade is less than one-half of the distance from tine extremity to tine extremity it is necessary that the driven gears 102 and 104 be positioned so that the rack is always engaged by one of the gears. Thus, as seen in FIG. 9, when the rack is in the position shown, it is still in engagement with gear 102.

With reference to FIG. 10, when the knob 34 is turned clockwise, the driving gear 100 also turns in a clockwise direction causing engaging driven gears 102 and 104 to turn in a counterclockwise position thus causing the rack 108 to move toward the limiting position shown in FIG. 10.

Though a rack or rack gear 108 is utilized in this embodiment of the invention, the total movement of that rack exceeds twice the distance from the longitudinal axis of symmetry to the aligned bights. This is achieved with a rack of less length than one-half of its travel by using driving means operable in positions above and below the axis of symmetry. Thus the upper pinion gear 102 and the lower pinion gear 104 meet these requirements, the joint operation by them being shown in FIG. 6 and the transfer of the driving connection first to one and then the other being shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. It will be noted that the travel distance of the rack 108 may be increased by amounts proportional to the separation distance between said driven gears.

It will be noted that the hair engaging portions of the tines 114 are slanted, i.e., lie in inclined planes. As earlier mentioned, the slanted tines enable the hair to be cammed slightly in the direction of the tine slant so that as the hair has a sidewise movement as it engages the blade, the hair also engages the cutting edge at an angle to provide more of a tapered look. This minimizes cutting the hair in a chopper manner, i.e., a straight across type of cut.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 12-16, features of the preceding embodiments have been utilized to achieve the desired increased throw of the carriage 48. Thus, a link or lever 148 is at one end pivoted by pin 46 secured to the handle portion and at its opposite end has a slot 52 into which extends pin 50 secured to an end portion of the carriage 48.

Intermediate the ends of the lever 148 is an arcuate rack 149 with associated driving pinion 150. As best shown in FIG. 13, the pinion 150 is secured to the stub shaft of thumbwheel or knob 34 journaled in the housing forming an enlarged portion of the handle. By providing the increased length of the rack by utilizing its curvilinear shape for that purpose and by making it part of the movable link or lever 148, the increased movement of the carriage 48 is attained. Thus, while the driving pinion 150 rotates about an axis intersecting the longitudinal axis of symmetry, nevertheless, the driving connection at pin 50 moves across the axis of symmetry as shown by FIGS. 15 and 16.

In FIG. 15, the cutting edge of blade 22 is in close proximity to the bights of tines 30. That edge is close enough for shaving but does not become nicked or dull along the working edge of the blade by engaging the tines, for the upward movement as viewed in FIG. 15, is limited by the lever 148 engaging the housing as at 153 serving as a stop. Also, the pinion 150 engages the lower end of the curved slotted portion of lever 148. Stopping means of this kind avoids the use of shortened end tines to arrest movement of the carriage 48. As shown in FIG. 16, like arrangements limit the movement of carriage 48 in the downward direction, as viewed in that figure.

It is to be further observed that open corners 32a and 32b of the enlarged handle-housing portion 32 provide for slightly increased arcuate movement of rack 149 without actual protrusion from the outer boundary of the housing portion 32.

As demonstrated above, features of one embodiment may be utilized in other embodiments. In the same way tines of configuration best suited to the hair cutting styles desired may be utilized with the several embodiments.

To augment the camming action lengthwise of the angulated tines, the configuration of FIGS. 17 and 18 may be preferred. As in FIG. 1, the tines 116 have straight portions 116a extending in direction normal to the longitudinal axis of the carriage 48. They then have zig-zag or serpentine shapes 1 16b substantially until the region of their securement to the frame or base plate 66. As the hair traverses the zig-zag paths, the camming action takes place for substantially all positions of the cutting edges of the blade 22.

Variations of the serpentine arrangement of FIGS. 17 and 18 are shown in the single tine illustrations of FIG. 19. Thus, the number of angle-bends in the tine 138 may be less than for the tine 140. Either of these shapes may also be inclined as illustrated by tines 142 and 144.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 20 and 21, the tines have lateral projections 120a extending outwardly therefrom. They are formed by sharp bends in the wire forming the tine. They serve to narrow a portion of the path between adjacent tines through which the hair must pass. With the edge of the blade adjacent this narrowed region, efficiency of cutting will be increased. Because the hair is cammed slightly and comes from spaced portions of the scalp, the dreaded chopped-look is avoided and the desired professional appearance is produced. As best shown in FIG. 20, the hair guiding protruberances 120a may be near the bights of the tines. In some embodiments or indeed on an opposite side of the cutter, they may be located nearer the base plate 66 to delineate cutting regions farther from the scalp and from the bights of the tines. See tines 145, 146 and 147 of FIG. 22 for variations in formed protuberances.

In some modifications of the invention, the tines of each side of the cage may be of zigzag configuration as shown in FIG. 23, characterized by increasing angularity from one bend to the other beginning with the bight portion and extending along the lengths of each tine. The angularity between the bends can also decrease from the bight ends along the lengths of the tines, thus providing adjustability as to the camming action for different positions of the cutting blade relative to the angled portions.

Having now described a number of embodiments of the invention it will be understood that many variations may be made without departing from the invention as set forth by the claims. For example, the blade adjusting mechanism need not be restricted to the crank and arm, the three-gear-rack or the curvilinear rack embodiments for the purposes of this invention to be carried out. As long as mechanism is employed in which the blade carriage has a means by which it is driven, through an intermediate range-of-motion-enhancing means which engages the blade carriage directly or indirectly, the criteria of the subject invention is met. With this design, it is possible to use a blade whose width is less than half the distance from the extremities of one set of tines to the other set.

Variations may also be made in the angles of the tines with the important consideration being that the various shapes as disclosed herein cause a camming action of the hair to produce a more tapered cut than has heretofore been possible with the earlier cutter models.

What is claimed is:

l. A hair cutter comprising:

a supporting frame,

a blade carriage for a double-edged blade supported by said frame,

a protective cage supported by and extending outwardly from the frame, said cage comprising a plurality of elements forming oppositely disposed rows of bights respectively spaced outwardly from said frame, the distance between said rows of bights being greater than twice the Width of said doubleedged blade,

a manually movable driving element, and

a range-of-motion-enhancing means disposed intermediate of said driving element and said carriage to assist in driving said carriage toward and away from said oppositely disposed rows of bights to enable positioning of the cutting edges of said blade at selected positions between each of said oppositely disposed rows of bights, said range-ofmotion-enhancing means comprising a motion imparting member pivotable about a point on said supporting frame to provide a range of motion capability to drive said blade carriage from one to the other of said oppositely disposed rows of bights in which said double-edged blade is in juxtaposition to first one and then the other of said oppositely disposed rows of bights.

2. The hair cutter of claim 1 in which said range-ofmotion-enhancing means comprises a pivotally mounted lever which when driven by said driving element, increases the throw of said blade carriage.

3. The hair cutter of claim 2 in which said lever includes a curvilinear rack and said driving element comprises a pinion for said rack.

4. The hair cutter of claim 2 wherein said lever has a slot intermediate of its length and said driving element includes a crank arm engageable in said slot.

5. The hair cutter of claim 1 in which said driving element comprises a driving gear, said intermediate rangeof-motion-enhancing means comprises two driven gears spaced one from the other and engageable with said driving gear, and said carriage includes a rack gear engageable by said driven gears to increase the travel distance of said rack by amounts proportional to the separation distance between said driven gears.

6. The hair cutter of claim 1 including a stop means to prevent the edges of said blade from impinging against said bights of said rows.

7. The hair cutter of claim 1 in which the plurality of elements forming oppositely disposed rows of bights comprise serpentine tines.

8. The hair cutter of claim 7 in which the serpentine tines have a portion which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the blade.

9. The hair cutter of claim 1 in which the plurality of elements includes projecting portions which substantially cam a users hair.

10. The hair cutter of claim 1 in which said plurality of elements extend inwardly generally toward each other in regions remote from said bights to provide clearance paths for hair being stroked and cut regardless of the side of the frame facing the scalp.

11. The hair cutter of claim 1 wherein one or more of said bights are designed to act as blade stops.

12. The hair cutter of claim 1 wherein certain of said bights are of less width than others to act as blade stops.

13. A hair cutter comprising:

a supporting frame,

a blade table for a blade supported by said frame,

adjustment means by which said blade may be adjusted to cutting positions, and

a cage supported by said frame, said cage comprising a plurality of tines to form hair receiving spaces throughout their respective lengths but for parts of which are substantially bent upon themselves to form projections which intercede within the hair receiving spaces to deflect portions of hair as said hair cutter is stroked through the hair.

14. The hair cutter of claim 13 wherein said plurality of tines are substantially equal distant one from the other.

15. A hair cutter comprising:

a supporting frame,

a blade carriage for a double-edged blade supported by said frame,

a protective cage supported by and extending outwardly from the frame, said cage comprising a plurality of tines forming oppositely disposed rows of bights respectively spaced outwardly from said frame, the distance between said rows of bights being greater than twice the width of said doubleedged blade, the end portions of said tines of each of said rows in regions remote from said bights extending inwardly toward said frame to provide clearance paths for hair being stroked and cut regardless of the side of the frame facing the scalp,

a range-of-motion enhancing means mechanically connecting said driving element and said carriage for driving said carriage toward and away from said oppositely disposed rows of bights comprising a motion imparting member pivotable about a fixed point on said supporting frame to drive said carriage whereby any part of the blade can traverse a distance greater than twice the width of the blade to enable positioning the cutting edges of said blade at selected positions relative to said rows of bights.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE; CERTIFIQATE GF (JORREQTION Patent No. 3,855,695 Dated December 24, 1974 inventofls) Abram Nathaniel Spanel It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 4, line 3, delete "0e" and insert "one- Column 6, line 43, delete "68" and insert ---78--.';

Column 7, line +8, delete "chopper" and insert --chopped-.

Signee and sealed this 18th day of February I975.

(SEAL) Attest:

C. MARSHALL DANN' RUTH C MASON Commissioner of Patents Attestmg Officer and Trademarks FORM powso (wss) I uscoMM-Dc 60376-P69 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1969 0-366-384, 

1. A hair cutter comprising: a supporting frame, a blade carriage for a double-edged blade supported by said frame, a protective cage supported by and extending outwardly from the frame, said cage comprising a plurality of elements forming oppositely disposed rows of bights respectively spaced outwardly from said frame, the distance between said rows of bights being greater than twice the width of said double-edged blade, a manually movable driving element, and a range-of-motion-enhancing means disposed intermediate of said driving element and said carriage to assist in driving said carriage toward and away from said oppositely disposed rows of bights to enable positioning of the cutting edges of said blade at selected positions between each of said oppositely disposed rows of bights, said range-of-motion-enhancing means comprising a motion imparting member pivotable about a point on said supporting frame to provide a range of motion capability to drive said blade carriage from one to the other of said oppositely disposed rows of bights in which said double-edged blade is in juxtaposition to first one and then the other of said oppositely disposed rows of bights.
 2. The hair cutter of claim 1 in which said range-of-motion-enhancing means comprises a pivotally mounted lever which when driven by said driving element, increases the throw of said blade carriage.
 3. The hair cutter of claim 2 in which said lever includes a curvilinear rack and said driving element comprises a pinion for said rack.
 4. The hair cutter of claim 2 wherein said lever has a slot intermediate of its length and said driving element includes a crank arm engageable in said slot.
 5. The hair cutter of claim 1 in which said driving element comprises a driving gear, said intermediate range-of-motion-enhancing means comprises two driven gears spaced one from the other and engageable with said driving gear, and said carriage includes a rack gear engageable by said driven gears to increase the travel distance of said rack by amounts proportional to the separation distance between said driven gears.
 6. The hair cutter of claim 1 including a stop means to prevent the edges of said blade from impinging against said bights of said rows.
 7. The hair cutter of claim 1 in which the plurality of elements forming oppositely disposed rows of bights comprise serpentine tines.
 8. The hair cutter of claim 7 in which the serpentine tines have a portion which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the blade.
 9. The hair cutter of claim 1 in which the plurality of elements includes projecting portions which substantially cam a user''s hair.
 10. The hair cutter of claim 1 in which said plurality of elements extend inwardly generally toward each other in regions remote from said bights to provide clearance paths for hair being stroked and cut regardless of the side of the frame facing the scalp.
 11. The hair cutter of claim 1 wherein one or more of said bights are designed to act as blade stops.
 12. The hair cutter of claim 1 wherein certain of said bights are of less width than others to act as blade stops.
 13. A hair cutter comprising: a supporting frame, a blade table for a blade supported by said frame, adjustment means by which said blade may be adjusted to cutting positions, and a cage supported by said frame, said cage comprising a plurality of tines to form hair receiving spaces throughout their respective lengths but for parts of which are substantially bent upon themselves to form projections which intercede within the hair receiving spaces to deflect portions of hair as said hair cutter is stroked through the hair.
 14. The hair cutter of claim 13 wherein said plurality of tines are substantially equal distant one from the other.
 15. A hair cutter comprising: a supporting frame, a blade carriage for a double-edged blade supported by said frame, a protective cage supported by and extending outwardly from the frame, said cage comprising a plurality of tines forming oppositely disposed rows of bights respectively spaced outwardly from said frame, the distance between said rows of bights being greater than twice the width of said double-edged blade, the end portions of said tines of each of said rows in regions remote from said bights extending inwardly toward said frame to provide clearance paths for hair being stroked and cut regardless of the side of the frame facing the scalp, a manually movable driving element, and a range-of-motion-enhancing means disposed intermediate of said driving element and said carriage for driving said carriage toward and away from said oppositely disposed rows of bights to enable positioning the cutting edges of said blade relative to said rows of bights whereby any part of the blade during lateral movement can traverse a distance greater than twice the width of the blade.
 16. A hair cutter comprising: a supporting frame, a blade carriage for a double-edged blade supported by said frame, a protective cage supported by and extending outwardly from the frame, said cage comprising a plurality of elements forming oppositely disposed rows of bights respectively spaced outwardly from said frame, the distance between said rows of bights being greater than twice the width of said double-edged blade, said tines being bent to form angulated portions whereby the hair receiving spaces between said tines are interrupted at intervals by said angulated portions, a manually movable driving element, and a range-of-motion enhancing means mechanically connecting said driving element and said carriage for driving said carriage toward and away from said oppositely disposed rows of bights comprising a motion imparting member pivotable about a fixed point on said supporting frame to drive said carriage whereby any part of the blade can traverse a distance greater than twice the width of the blade to enable positioning the cutting edges of said blade at selected positions relative to said rows of bights. 